Perfect
by PrincessTadashi
Summary: (Alive Parents AU) Between juggling his parents' perfectionistic expectations of him and trying to reach out to a rebellious younger brother, Tadashi Hamada is overwhelmed and deeply in need of a chance to just relax. But when a meddling friend gets him drunk and he wakes up in his crush's bedroom, he starts to wonder if perfection is all it's cracked up to be. (Fredashi)
1. Chapter 1

"HIRO TAKACHICHO HAMADA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" a voice thunders.

"I was just out, Mom!" a nonchalant, if somewhat snarky voice replies.

"Out until 6 am in the morning?! WHERE. WERE. YOU?!" the first voice demands.

"Is it really that big a deal? Sheesh, I thought you and dad were out at your big fancy dinner last night-if you can be out to the early hours of the morning, why can't I?" the second voice fires back. "Besides, you're never even here, how could I expect you to care?"

"Do not talk back to your mother, Hiro. We were worried sick about you!" a deeper male's voice answers.

"Worried about me? Oh, that's rich!" The second voice, apparently Hiro, drawls. "I'm surprised you guys even remember my name! I could disappear off the face of the Earth and it would take you a week to realize that I was missing!"

"Hiro Takachicho, you stop right there! Do not turn your back on me, young man, you are in serious trouble!"

But instead of replying, there's just the sound of angry footsteps on the stairs, followed by a door swinging roughly open and then being slammed shut with a noise like a pistol being shot. Tadashi, who had been listening to this entire exchange ever since the sounds of the argument had woken him up, immediately feigns sleep so that he wouldn't have to deal with his little brother's surly attitude, but within moments of being inside the room the younger teen snarls, "Give it up, I know you're awake. Hope you enjoyed the show, bro."

"Hiro…" Tadashi sits up in bed, feeling like it was too early to be awake but also knowing that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep at this point. "You know that they're just worried about you."

"Worried. Right," Hiro snorts as he pulls a black robot with a yellow smiley face on it out of his bag and heads over to his desk to start tinkering with it.

"They are!" Tadashi protests. "You're gone all hours of the night at these stupid bot fights of yours-it's a miracle you haven't been arrested or even killed by some thug you beat too well by now!"

"I can take care of myself!" Hiro answers, rolling his eyes. "I've had to do that for most of my life, remember?"

"Hiro…" Tadashi winces at that. "You know that Mama and _Otousan_ are doing their best. Their work is just really important, and sometimes sacrifices have to be made-"

"Sacrifices like actually spending time with their kids or even giving them the slightest indication that they matter to them? Sure, bro." Hiro shoots him a derisive look. "Keep telling yourself that. Whatever it takes to let you sleep at night, secure in your knowledge that you're the chosen one and that all your efforts will actually get them to love you some day!"

"I'm not 'the chosen one'! And they do love me!" Tadashi argues, ignoring the feeling deep down that maybe his brother was right. "They love both of us, Hiro! If you'd just give them a chance-"

"I've given them chances, Tadashi," Hiro snarls. "Fourteen years' worth of chances, after every missed soccer game and birthday. I'm done getting my hopes up over people who won't give me the time of day."

"Hiro-" Tadashi tried to get in one last argument, but his younger sibling had already pulled his hood up over his head and shoved his earbuds into his ears, playing his music so loud that Tadashi could actually hear the bass reverberating even from his side of the room. Knowing that this was a sign that the teen wasn't going to listen to anything else he had to say, he sighs and stands up, heading for his closet. If he couldn't do anything here, he might as well head to the university and get some work done.

Downstairs he finds his parents still arguing in the living room, although the minute he walks in they quickly stop.

"There's our _musuko_ ," his father says with a smile as he enters the room.

"Good morning, _otousan_ ," Tadashi answers with a formal bow before going over to kiss his mother on the cheek. "Mama."

"Up so early?" she asks as she gently kisses him back.

"I thought I'd head over to the university to get some work in on my project for Professor Callaghan," Tadashi replies, neglecting to mention that their arguing had woken him up-as usual, he did his best to never bring up points of contention like that. Keep the peace, that was his job. Make his parents proud of him. That's what he'd been doing for twenty years, things weren't about to change now.

"That's my boy." His dad beams over at him. "Working hard to stay at the top of all your classes, just like your old man."

" _Hai, otousan_ ," Tadashi agrees with a nod. He'd been at the top of his classes since he'd been in preschool. He remembered how disappointed his parents had been the one time he'd brought home a B in language arts in second grade, and he'd vowed to never live through something like that again.

"Just make sure not to work yourself too hard," his mother says. "Save some time for finding nice girl!"

"Yes ma'am," Tadashi agrees, trying not to let his frustration show on his face. All through junior high and high school, his parents had drilled into him that he needed to focus on his studies and not be distracted by getting into any relationships-he hadn't even been allowed to ask anyone to prom! But then suddenly when he'd started college they started pressuring him to try to find a girlfriend and, in their eyes, a potential future wife. It was confusing, to say the least, if not enough to drive him out of his mind. And it wasn't like he could bring home just any girl and try to pass her off as his girlfriend-she had to be smart, polite, ridiculously beautiful… In a word? Perfect.

"What ever happened to that Aiko girl you were always telling us about?" Mr. Hamada asks, glancing up from the newspaper he'd been muttering over.

"We're just friends, _otousan_ ," Tadashi answers, flushing. And it was the truth. When he'd first met Aiko (Honey Lemon to her friends) upon entering college, she'd seemed to be everything his parents had in mind for his future bride, and, at the time, that had been all that had mattered and so he started trying to pursue her. A few weeks into their non-romantic relationship, he'd quickly discovered two roadblocks. One, that he honestly just didn't find himself attracted to her-at least not in _that_ way. The other was that Honey Lemon was openly and, one might even say, flamboyantly gay. Not that Tadashi would ever explain that second part to his parents-they were strongly against the lgbtqa community, to put it nicely, extremely prejudiced and homophobic if he was being honest with himself. For now, if it got his parents off his back by thinking that he was just playing shy and satisfied their need to believe that he in some sort of being in a relationship, then he'd just let them think whatever they wanted to and he'd continue safely on in his platonic friendship with Honey Lemon, hoping that he'd find someone he actually could date before his parents put too much pressure onto him to actually introduce her to them.

"I'd better get going-I have an exam later today and I'd like to get some more studying in for it just to be on the safe side," he says, hoping to distract his parents from the rather touchy subject and get himself a free pass out of the house.

"Oh, of course!" his mother gives him a warm, understanding smile.

"You go out there and do your best!" his father adds.

"I will," Tadashi promises, shouldering his bag and starting to head for the door.

"Oh, sweetheart, before I forget!" his mother calls after him. "Your father and I have our neuroscience convention this weekend so we won't be home. Do you think you can look after yourself and your brother while we're gone?"

"Absolutely," Tadashi agrees, trying to keep from sighing audibly. He honestly hadn't remembered that his parents were heading to that particular convention, but he wasn't surprised. Hiro was right about one thing-they were hardly ever home. If they weren't actually at the lab where they worked, they were doing something work related. The conversation he'd just had with them was the most communicating they'd done in… Well, longer than he could remember. It might have seemed sad to an outsider, but at least with them not constantly present he had an easier time not feeling the pressure they silently put on him 24/7-he put enough pressure on himself without them adding to it.

"Thank you, Tadashi," his father tells him with a smile. "You're a good son-you make us so proud."

"We love you!" his mother adds.  
"I love you guys too," Tadashi answers, waving as he heads out the door but feeling his words fall flat. He could make them sound real, could almost make himself believe that they were, but at the end of the day they were just words. What did he know about love, really? If he was being perfectly honest with himself, nothing.

"Ooh, double shot espresso mochachino-the exam was that bad, huh?"

Tadashi looks up from where he had been blandly staring into space to see Honey Lemon standing over him, smiling sympathetically.

"Not the exam," Tadashi answers, sighing but unable to keep from smiling slightly at her concern. "Family stuff."

"I'm sorry, Dashi." Honey Lemon pulls him into a hug. Tadashi hadn't told her everything about his home situation, but he had found that she was an excellent listener when he needed to vent and so she knew more than most people he'd ever met about the type of drama that he dealt with on a daily basis.

"Honestly, I kind of just want to get out of here and go find something to get my mind off of all of this," Tadashi admits, distractedly pushing his bangs back and off of his face.

"I see." Honey Lemon seems to be fighting a slight smile at that. "Am I safe to assume that we're having another 'study date' tonight?"

"If we could," Tadashi agrees with a grateful look.

" _No digas más-_ \- Say no more!" Honey Lemon answers firmly. "We've all had a rough week with these stupid midterms, and it's time we all went out and celebrated since we're done, anyways! Do you want to go to our usual spot?"

"I know you do so you can see that girl you're always trying to hit on," Tadashi answers playfully.

"Just as much as you want to see the guy who gives out all the nicknames that you're always flirting with," Honey Lemon tosses back breezily, with just a hint of mischief in her voice.

"Honey Lemon, I don't flirt with him-I'm not even gay!" Tadashi protests, blushing bright red. "We just have a lot of interests in common and I like talking to him!"

"Mm hm." Honey Lemon raises an eyebrow, looking like she didn't believe a word that he was saying.

"I mean, even if I was just a tiny bit gay…" Tadashi mumbles, "You know my parents would never allow me to date another guy…"

"Tadashi? _Te amo, pero eres muy_ _estúpido,_ " Honey Lemon answers, rolling her eyes slightly and momentarily reminding him of Hiro. "I know you really care about your parents and what they think of you, but you're twenty years old! You need to start living your life the way you want to or else you'll end up looking back on your life and regret never having had the bravery to go after the things that matter to you."

"You sound like a TED talk, you know that?" Tadashi sighs, shaking his head.

"Tadashi!" Honey Lemon lightly whacks him. "Don't make fun of me when you know I'm right!"

"All right, fine, fine, you might have a bit of a point..." Tadashi admits. "I just… It's hard for me to go against anything my parents have to say… You know how important they are to me…"

"Valuing your parents' opinion is one thing, blindly following everything that they have to say is another," Honey Lemon states firmly before adding, "I'll make you a deal. Tonight you come out with me and you actually listen to me when I tell you to have fun. Then if tomorrow you decide that it was all a major mistake and that you want to go back to living life on the safe side, I won't pressure you again."

"Well…" Tadashi seems to be considering this. "I guess that doesn't sound so bad…"

"It's only one night!" Honey Lemon urges him. "I mean, how bad could that be? And if I'm wrong, you don't have to listen to me pestering you ever again!"

"...All right, fine," Tadashi finally says, unable to keep from grinning slightly. "You're on!"

"Yes!" Honey Lemon cheers with a grin. "I'll go grab my purse and Wasabi and we'll be on our way! Meet you out in the parking lot?"

"Sounds good!" Tadashi agrees. Little did he know just what the night had in store for him.

Two hours later, he was sitting at the bar in one of their university's biggest hangouts nursing a coke. He didn't really drink-he knew that he'd be dead if he ever came home with even the slightest indication that he'd consumed any alcohol, plus he'd seen enough people getting sloshed and acting like complete idiots that it had sort of curbed any desire he might have had to experiment. Frankly, he was quite happy sitting here, sipping on a soda and talking to his friend Wasabi. Much to his relief (and no, not at all disappointment), the fanboy that Honey Lemon was under the impression he had a crush on hadn't show up tonight, which might mean that he'd manage to get a free pass tonight and for the foreseeable future. If the other guy never showed up, then Honey Lemon couldn't force him to talk to him, and she'd promised to leave him alone after tonight, so this was perfect. He wasn't even the slightest bit sad that he might be missing out on an opportunity for fate to actually get them together. Nope. He was completely and totally happy with his life continuing on in the organized, well planned out way that it had up to this point. After all, why mess with perfection, right?

He should have sensed trouble the minute he saw Honey Lemon heading towards him, looking like she was already tipsy despite the fact that she'd only been there an hour (she did have a weakness when it came to rum.)

"Hi Dashi!" she cries, a bit louder than was necessary even though it was pretty loud in here.

"Hey, HL," Tadashi answers with a slight smile, taking a sip from his soda. "You having fun?"

"Totally!" Honey Lemon answers brightly. "I've been dancing with GoGo for the past hour!"

"Good for you!" Tadashi couldn't help but be happy for her-she deserved to enjoy herself, and if her crush was finally starting to reciprocate then all the better. Especially if it helped keep her distracted from making him keep his end of the bargain…

Unfortunately, just then she seemed to remember part of the reason that they'd come here in the first place.

"So, where's Fred?" she asks, and his wince isn't just because she's almost shouting.

"He's not here!" he answers, trying to keep his tone level. "I don't think he's coming tonight!"

"Oh…" Honey Lemon seems to momentarily deflate before suddenly brightening again. "Well, if he's not coming, you still need to do something fun! I'm getting you a drink!"

"What? Honey, no!" Tadashi protests. "You know that I don't drink!" Flirting was one thing, getting inebriated-especially since he was underage-was quite another!

"Dashi, c'mon!" Honey Lemon whines. "Do it for me?"

"Honey Lemon, no!"

"...Fine. What if I don't make you drink a whole drink? Just take two sips of mine and I'll consider tonight a success!"

Tadashi considers her offer. Honestly, he'd rather not have to drink at all, but it was hard to say no to Honey Lemon when she was looking at him like that, plus he'd be able to get her off of his back quicker this way. Besides, Wasabi was the designated driver and if he took the sips now the alcohol should be out of his system before it was time to head home…

"All right, fine, I'll do it!" he finally says.

"You will?" Wasabi looks over at him in disbelief.

"Yes!" Honey Lemon grins before calling an order to the bartender-it was in Spanish, so Tadashi didn't quite understand what she'd said, but when she gets it a few minutes later it looked like something fruity and tropical. At least it wasn't straight alcohol-right? What he didn't realize was that all the sugar and fruit helped cover up the taste of the rum so he ended up getting a lot more alcohol in those two sips than he realized, especially since he'd liked the taste and ended up drinking more than he would have if it had been strong and bitter. Honey Lemon seemed pleased with the fact that he had actually been willing to try her drink, and didn't get offended when Tadashi turned down her offer to let him finish it off. He could already tell that he was slightly buzzed just from what he'd already had-he was apparently the lightest of lightweights. Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize just how buzzed he was until it was too late. About fifteen minutes after he'd taken the sips and the alcohol had really set in, the reason Honey Lemon had dragged him here in the first place came walking in the door.

Sober, Tadashi couldn't deny (despite his most valiant efforts) that the fanboy was attractive. He wasn't classically handsome, sure, but something about his gangly awkwardness came across as adorable, and especially on the nights when his long hair was swept back into a ponytail, the other man found his heart racing a little faster when he was around him. Tonight, though… Whether it was the rum or the lights or something else entirely, Tadashi found himself staring at Fred like he'd never looked at him before. All his walls were down, and suddenly he just knew that he wanted those soft pink lips against his own, to have his fingers tangled in that ridiculously hot ponytail. It didn't even cross his mind to think about whether this meant he was gay or bi or something else entirely. He certainly wasn't thinking about what his parents would say if they could see him right now. He just knew what his body was telling him, and the rum had shut off the inhibitions that had always kept him from acting on these feelings before.

Ignoring Wasabi's increasingly concerned questions as to where he was going, Tadashi makes his way across the restaurant, sliding into the seat next to the one the other man had just taken.

"Hey there," he quietly purrs-yes, actually purrs (he was going to be grateful later that no one he knew had been around to see this.)

"Hey yourself," Fred answers, looking slightly surprised but not averse to the tone this conversation was taking.

"You're hot, you know that?" Tadashi says, lightly touching the fanboy's wrist before starting to let his hand travel further up his arm.

"Oh, um, thank you?" Fred blushed bright red, gingerly moving his arm out of the other man's reach but smiling slightly all the same. "Right back at you."

"You know, we should go out sometime," Tadashi tells him bluntly, his already inept skills at flirting completely trashed thanks to the alcohol that was clouding his brain.

"Are you asking me out?" Fred asks, raising an eyebrow and seeming to be fighting a grin.

"Isn't that what I said?" Tadashi returns, blinking owlishly at him.

"Wow, I… Honestly, I never knew that you felt that way about me," Fred admits. "You always act so stiff and reserved… What changed?"

"...You look amazing tonight?" Tadashi answers, wishing that the other man would stop asking him all these questions and making him feel so confused. Why didn't he just kiss him already?

"That's certainly flattering." Fred blushes again. "But I honestly don't know what's that different from all the other nights I've been in here-"

His words were cut off when Tadashi suddenly lost patience and, putting one hand on either side of his head, pulls him into a deep kiss. For a moment Fred stiffens, letting out a surprised squeak, before letting himself melt into the contact. The fanboy would be lying if he said that he hadn't been dreaming about a moment like this for a very long time, and he decides not to ask any questions and just enjoy it. But then his brain suddenly registers the taste of alcohol on the other man's lips and he forces himself to pull away.

"Tadashi, are you drunk?" he asks, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

"'M not drunk!" Tadashi protests, doing his best to try to pull Fred back into the kiss, not ready for it to be over yet.

"Yes, you are," Fred answers firmly, kicking himself for not figuring it out sooner. Why else would the cute, shy nerd he'd been crushing on for months suddenly be all over him tonight? He didn't know how Tadashi had gotten ahold of the alcohol-he knew for a fact that he wasn't twenty-one yet. He also knew that, even though he'd offered to buy him a drink before so he wouldn't get in trouble, Tadashi wasn't the type of person who voluntarily drank, certainly not to the point of being actually drunk. Someone had managed to get him inebriated, and even though Fred knew he'd never forget the kiss they'd just shared, he couldn't help but feeling majorly pissed off at whoever had done this-what if Tadashi had gotten himself into trouble with someone else who would have been more than happy to take advantage of him?

"C'mon, I'm taking you home," the fanboy says, wrapping an arm around the other man (only for support, of course) and starting to guide him towards the door. He'd come here hoping to take the edge off after surviving through midterms and had been planning on probably closing the place down like he usually did, but making sure that Tadashi was safe was more important. And if once Tadashi sobered up they got a chance to talk about that kiss and what it really meant? Well, he wasn't going to complain about that!

Tadashi, who seemed to have finally come to the realization that he was actually drunk, suddenly grabs onto his shirt, his expression pleading as he begs, "No, please don't take me home! My parents…"

Fred bites his lip, considering his options. As much as he felt that Tadashi should be home, in his own bed, until he'd recovered, he got the picture that the other man's parents would be less than thrilled to have their son returned to them in this condition. Even though he seriously doubted that it was Tadashi's fault for having gotten drunk in the first place, he knew that they might not listen to his explanations or, worse, think that he was the one responsible for getting him drunk and keep them from seeing each other again! If there was any chance of them having a relationship (as long as everything Tadashi had said wasn't just the effects of the alcohol), he certainly didn't want the first memories the other man's family had of him being bringing their son home wasted.

"Fine," Fred finally sighs as he continues to maneuver his companion towards the door. "I'll take you back to my place until you can sleep this off, okay?"

"'Kay," Tadashi agrees, nuzzling into his shoulder and forcing the poor fanboy to support the majority of his weight. By the time that Heathcliff, Fred's family's butler, arrives with the limo, the other man was completely out and Fred was more than happy to let the butler wordlessly lift Tadashi up (it was still hard to believe how strong the manservant was given his frame gave no signs of muscle whatsoever) and settle him onto one of the seats. The fanboy climbs in after him and doesn't even complain when the Tadashi snuggles against him, wrapping his arms around him in his sleep. Maybe this wasn't how Fred had imagined their first even mildly romantic exchange to go, but the important thing to him was that Tadashi was safe, and that's all that mattered.

During the night, Tadashi wakes up in a dark room, not sure where he is but feeling the violent urge to throw up everything in his body, including his intestines. Just as he's about to be sick on the strange bed he's in, suddenly there's one hand strongly supporting his back while the other holds a basin for him to retch into. By the time he's finally puked out everything that he can, he's too exhausted to ask any questions or even feel scared. Instead, he just lets the same strong arms wipe away the remaining vomit and bile from his face with a cloth and then gently settle him back against the pillows. Before the stranger even pulls the blankets up around him again, he's already fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Tadashi awakes the next morning with only fuzzy memories of the previous night playing across his brain. He remembered talking to Honey Lemon and then heading to the restaurant. It took him another moment and the remainder of a really bad headache pounding in his brain to remind him of the fateful two sips he'd had from Honey Lemon's drink and only seconds after that to realize that it had been the stupidest decision of his entire life. This was what happened when he tried to push the boundaries-he ended up apparently passing out and then dealing with a massive hangover. Still, he supposed it could have gone worse. At least he'd gotten home somehow. He guessed Wasabi had probably driven him back, and for once he was glad that his parents were gone this weekend because it meant they had hopefully hadn't seen his friend helping or maybe even carrying him in, depending on what state he had been in. He'd sewed his one night of wild oats, and that was more than enough for him for the rest of his life, thank you very much!

He was just settling back against the pillows in hopes that his headache would ease up if he did so, only to sit bolt upright when it suddenly hits him that he wasn't in his own room. Half asleep he hadn't been paying any attention, but this certainly was not the bedroom that he shared with Hiro! Heart pounding in his chest, he starts to take stock of his situation. The room, whoever's it was, looked like it belonged to someone with a lot of money and extremely nerdy tastes, if the quality of the furniture and the gorgeous silk screen posters on the wall were any indication. It was nice to know he wasn't in some sleazy motel or something, but the quality of the room didn't matter depending on what had happened last night! On the plus side, he seemed to still be wearing all of his clothes, except his shoes and blazer which had been neatly folded and placed on the nightstand next to the bed, so maybe there was hope that nothing too serious had gone down…?

It wasn't until he saw someone wrapped in a sleeping bag lying on the floor that he realized he wasn't alone in here and he lets out a startled yelp of surprise (only to regret it when it made his headache come back with a vengeance.) The noise seemed to wake the person in the bag, and a moment later they roll over to reveal-

"F-Fred?" Tadashi gasps, his mind working overtime to figure out what the heck the other guy was doing here.

"Oh, hey!" The fanboy, while still seeming fairly out of it, smiles up at him after letting out a yawn. "Good to see that you're awake."

"W-Where are we?" Tadashi asks, not sure if he should be concerned by the fact that his brain was openly pointing out the fact that the other man looked completely adorable in this half awake state.

"We're in my house, amigo," Fred answers, something about his calm tone keeping Tadashi from freaking out more. "You kind of passed out on me in the bar last night after you started flirting with me so I didn't feel safe leaving you there. I would have tried to take you back to your house but you started begging me not to because of your parents so this was the only other option I could think of."

"O-Oh my gosh…" Tadashi's face turns beet red and he covers it with his hands as blurry memories from the previous night of his inept flirting come back to him. "Fred, I'm so, so sorry, I didn't mean too…"

"Hey, it's okay." The fanboy stands up and comes over to him, sitting down on the edge of the bed and wrapping an arm gently around his shoulders. "I've done worse when I've been drunk before, so I completely feel you!"

"I just… I've never even had any sort of alcoholic drink before," Tadashi mumbles, still feeling completely embarrassed but honestly a little bit better thanks to the fanboy's reassurances. "I hope you don't think that I'm the type of person who would willingly get sloshed like that…"

"I kind of figured that out," Fred reassures him with a lopsided grin. "Trust me, we're totally cool."

"Yeah?" Tadashi flashes him a shy smile.

"Definitely!" Fred agrees before saying, "Although, I have to admit, I do kind of have some questions about the stuff you were saying last night."

"O-Oh…" Tadashi feels his face heating up all over again.

"I'm not going to make you say anything you're not comfortable with!" Fred hurries to reassure him. "I just… You were really hardcore hitting on me before you passed out. Does this mean that you… Y'know, like me in that way?"

"I… I don't know," Tadashi whispers, shaking his head slightly. "I never really thought about it before…" The truth was, given his parents' strict guidelines, he'd never allowed himself to, even if he did.

"So, is that a 'I haven't thought about it, but probably no', or does this mean I actually have a chance with you?" Fred asks, fiddling with the corner of the comforter.

"Y-You actually like me?" Tadashi says shyly, looking up at him through his eyelashes.

"Um, yeah!" Fred answers. "I thought that was pretty obvious!"

"Most guys in your position would have taken advantage of me," Tadashi reminds him slowly. "Why didn't you?"

"Because I honestly care about you and respect you?" Fred answers with a slight shrug. "I don't pull away from kissing a totally hot guy 'cause I don't want him making bad decisions while he's drunk and then spend the night sleeping on the floor so he can have the bed because I don't like him!"

"Oh gosh, I totally kissed you, didn't I?" Tadashi quietly moans. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay!" Fred hurries to reassure him. "Trust me, it could have been a lot worse-wasn't my first time being kissed by someone who was drunk off their ass, although it was probably the best."

Tadashi flushes at that. "I-I've never actually kissed anyone before," he quietly admits.

"Seriously? You could have fooled me!" Fred laughs. "Man, any boyfriends or girlfriends of yours were totally missing out!"

"I've never dated anyone before either," Tadashi tells him, taking his turn at playing nervously with the bed comforter.

"No way!" Fred gapes at him. "How could someone as attractive as you not had a whole string of people after you?"

"I dunno…" Tadashi shrugs uncomfortably. "My parents never really allowed me to date before college, and now they're pressuring me to find a girlfriend, but the truth is I honestly have no idea what I'm doing… I'm not even sure how to tell if I'm honestly attracted to girls or guys. I just… I'm feeling really lost and honestly kind of scared right now because I don't even know who to talk to about it…"

"I see." Fred nods his head slowly. "I understand where this is probably really stressful for you-it's never easy trying to figure this stuff out, especially since it sounds like you can't go to your parents on this. All I know is… We get along really well, we have a lot of stuff in common, and we seem to have some pretty awesome chemistry. Plus that kiss last night was pretty freaking fantastic, even if you were drunk."

"Yeah…" Tadashi feels his cheeks warming again. "From what I remember of it, I really liked it too… Um… Would you maybe like to try it again? Just to see if maybe there is something there since I'm sober now?"

"I'd be more than happy to!" Fred agrees with a grin, shifting a little bit closer before adding softly, "Just do it whenever you feel ready, all right?"

"O-Okay…" Tadashi nods, instinctively licking his lips even as he feels his heart pounding loudly in his chest. It takes him a minute, but finally he leans in, gently pressing his lips against Fred's. Instantly he feels fireworks going off in his head, letting out a tiny happy mew as the other man gently tilts his chin, guiding him until their lips were easily formed around each other. When they finally break for air, he whispers, "W-Wow…"

"I'll take it that was as good for you as it was for me?" Fred asks, his gaze playful but affectionate.

"I… If I wasn't gay before, I am now," Tadashi answers, eyelids still fluttering from the moment of passion.

"I'm glad to hear that." Fred teasingly runs a hand along his cheek, tucking a loose lock of hair behind his ear. "So, does this mean that you'd like to start dating-maybe even consider being my boyfriend?"

"Y-Yeah." Tadashi feels his heart fluttering with excitement as he gently nuzzles into the fanboy, who willing wraps his arms around him and pulls him close to his chest. "I-I'd really like that…"

"Really?" Fred grins like he'd just won the lottery.

"Really," Tadashi answers with a smile of his own before going serious. "I just-at least for now, I'd have to keep this a secret from my parents… I know that they're not okay with gay relationships in general, I don't know what they'd do if they found out that I… That we…"

"No problemo," Fred hurries to reassure him. "Trust me, I don't want to be forcing anyone out of the closet. If anything, I'm kind of surprised and really proud of you that you're willing to date me, considering."

"Well… I recently had a good friend tell me that I need to start making some decisions in my life that make me happy instead of forever doing what my parents want me to do," Tadashi replies. "I guess I decided to finally take their advice."

"So I make you happy?" Fred asks, barely even bothering to fight the smile making its way across his face.

"Yes," Tadashi answers, gently pecking his nose. "Yes you do."

For the next couple months, Tadashi felt like he was living in a dream. Albeit, a slightly terrifying dream because he was having to keep the fact that he was dating a guy-the most rebellious thing he'd ever done-a secret from his parents. Fortunately, though, the fact that his parents were hardly ever home and usually only saw what they wanted to see worked out to his advantage. As long as he kept his grades up and acted around them like he always did, they didn't suspect a thing. At first he felt kind of guilty, sneaking around behind their backs and sometimes having to lie to them, calling his dates with Fred "study sessions". But honestly, the longer he did it, the more he came to realize just how messed up of a family situation he was in. He'd always known that his parents had been over controlling and, admittedly, less than emotionally involved with him and Hiro. It wasn't until he finally found out what it felt like for someone to care about him (albeit in a romantic instead of parental fashion) that he realized just how much he'd been missing out on all these years. In a way it hurt knowing that they'd never loved him the way that they should have-he didn't know if it was purposeful or just by neglect, but that didn't make it hurt any , he began to understand why Hiro, who'd been living with this harsh reality for years, had gone the way that he had. It wasn't until one fateful afternoon shortly after school had ended for the summer, though, that Tadashi really managed to make things right with his younger sibling.

The day had started out innocently enough. All right, actually, it was anything but innocent. Admittedly it had begun with Tadashi just hanging out at Fred's house, but when a combination of boredom and the heat got to both of them, they'd ended up in a rather enthusiastic makeout session by the pool. They hadn't actually done "it" yet-neither of them felt anywhere near ready for that-but Tadashi had come away from it with some pretty apparent bruises on his neck. For the most part they didn't have to worry about the sorts of things that they did at Fred's house-his parents were gone most of the time and the staff were too well paid to say anything (Marie, the sweet grandmotherly lady who was the family's cook, actually seemed to think their relationship was "sweet" and was more than supportive of it). Unfortunately, they were interrupted mid-kiss by Heathcliff coming in to inform Fred that his parents were flying in unexpectedly that afternoon and he was supposed to be there to greet them at the airport. Both guys were in a bit of a rush after that, both trying to find their regular clothes-Fred so he could go meet his parents and Tadashi so he could get heading home before they arrived (despite the fact that the fanboy was openly out to them, he hadn't explained about having an actual boyfriend yet and there were certainly better conditions that they could find out about him than when he was damp and shirtless from being in the pool.) Eventually they both managed to find all of their clothes and, after giving his boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, Tadashi leaves via the front door. His mind still on how amazing their date had been and also his rushed exit, he didn't even see the other person on the sidewalk until they'd walked right into each other.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry-!" he starts to apologize, turning to help the other person to their feet only to stop short when he heard a familiar voice uttering a particularly colorful string of curses. "Hiro…?" he cries, blinking in surprise when he sees the younger boy lying on the sidewalk.

"Tadashi?" Hiro stares up at him, looking just as confused to see his elder sibling.

"What are you doing here?" they end up asking at the same time.

"You first!" Hiro demands.

"No way, I asked you first!" Tadashi argues, realizing that he needed a minute to come up with a half decent cover story.

"Fine." Hiro rolls his eyes, apparently used to not winning these battles and deciding that it would be quicker to just answer than to argue it. "I was out bot fighting and I'm on my way to another one across town. Now you."

The fact that his little brother was brazen enough to just declare his illegal deeds caught Tadashi slightly off guard, but by now he was at least somewhat used to it so he quickly recovers. "I was-just visiting a friend," he finally manages to get out, thinking that it would be a safe enough explanation. Unfortunately, however, the tiny genius was as perceptive for his age as he was smart.

"Friend? You don't have friends," Hiro drawls, raising an eyebrow.

"I do too have friends!" Tadashi protests, feeling slightly insulted.

"Yeah right. You're too wrapped up in your stupid school stuff to make any friends," Hiro fires back, and Tadashi did have to silently admit that that was sort of true.

"So if it's someone you're voluntarily spending your time with and it's not school related, it's gotta be something more serious-like a girlfriend," the younger boy continues with a slight smirk before adding thoughtfully, "But you'd totally have been broadcasting it to our parents if you had a girlfriend-at least one that you knew they'd approve of. So that lead me to think that you're in a relationship with a girl they wouldn't approve of-probably a rebel of some sort." He smirks up at his older sibling before taking in his appearance, his smirk growing as his eyes settle on the bruises on his brother's neck. "And this girl _marks_ you! Damn! And here I thought you were actually the innocent type-guess I was wrong about that! Wait until our parents hear that you're getting laid! Oh, this should be quite the fun trainwreck to watch when they find out that their 'perfect' son isn't so perfect after all!"

Everything was moving entirely too quickly-Tadashi didn't know how how Hiro was figuring all this out, but he knew it spelled trouble. He needed to find a way to put a stop to this, and _fast_. The first thing that came to mind was to try to deny the things that he could be honest about, starting with his brother's assumption that he was having sex. Instead of saying that, however, what comes out is, "It's not a girl!"

Silence hangs heavily between them for a full minute as the elder Hamada can almost visibly see the gears turning in the younger's head. Finally Hiro says in a voice that sounded slightly shocked, "Wait-you're gay?"

Tadashi knew he should have tried to deny it, but he knew that the blush on his cheeks and the guilty duck of his head said more than any words ever could.

"Hm… Interesting." Instead of seeming outright antagonistic at this point, Hiro's demeanor had changed to that of concentrated curiosity. "I didn't know that you could get two of those in one family," he finally says.

"Wait, what?" Tadashi's eyes instantly fly to his younger sibling's face. "H-Hold on, are you trying to tell me that you're-?"

"Gay? Yeah," Hiro answers with a tiny smirk. "About as gay as a rainbow flag, bro."

"Wow…" Tadashi lets out a tiny breath of air, not sure where to even go from here. "I mean… How long have you known…?"

"About a year." Hiro shrugs slightly. "I met Ezra at one of my bot fights. We've clicked when we tag teamed against another pair of bots, and we've been kind of going out ever since."

"You have a boyfriend, and I didn't even know about it?" Tadashi whispers, feeling his heart break slightly. True they hadn't been terribly close, but he was Hiro's nii-chan! Wasn't he supposed to be the one he came to to talk about stuff like this?

"I didn't think you'd be terribly receptive to the fact that I've been doing it with another guy given the kind of shit mom and dad throw around," Hiro snarks, his expression darkening slightly.

"You could have at least tried me-" Tadashi starts to protest, only to stop short when the full weight of what his brother had said hits him like a load of bricks. "Wait, you two have been having _sex_?!"

"That's what you're worried about?" Hiro raises an eyebrow. "I'm almost sixteen, Tadashi!"

"Sixteen is still underage! Do you not know the dangers-?" Tadashi cries.

"Stop shouting already, you're going to get us arrested for disturbing the peace!" Hiro groans. "And fine, if it makes you feel better, I was just messing with you! Ezra and I have not had sex!"

"Really?" Tadashi lets out a relieved sigh.

"Really," Hiro answers, rolling his eyes. Tadashi thought he might have heard him mutter, "Maybe…" under his breath, but for his own peace of mind he decides to pretend that he hadn't.

"So, how about you?" the younger boy asks. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you're actually doing something mom and dad would totally kill you for if they knew about it."

"A couple months?" Tadashi shrugs a bit uncomfortably. "I'd kind of been crushing on a guy for a while, and then one night my friend Honey Lemon got me drunk and-"

"Hold on, you're gay _and_ you got wasted? Who are you, and what have you done with my perfect older brother?" Hiro quietly cackles.

"The getting drunk thing was an accident!" Tadashi protests, blushing beet red.

"No, no, let me keep on believing that you purposefully got drunk-don't take the joy out of this for me!" Hiro answers with a grin.

Tadashi sighs and rolls his eyes, deciding not to argue. "While I was inebriated, I kind of started hitting on the guy and then passed out. He brought me back to his home so mama and _otousan_ wouldn't find out and made sure I was okay that night. The next morning we had a really good talk, and I decided that I'd rather be happy with him than be miserable following all of our parents' rules for the rest of my life, so… Yeah. We've been dating ever since then."

"Wow…" Hiro looks up at him with the closest thing he'd ever seen to respect on his face. "Y'know, I've never seen this side of you before," he admits after another moment of thought. "I didn't even know you had it in you to do anything that mom and dad didn't specifically tell you to do. Kind of makes me interested to see what else you've got hiding under that veneer of perfection you try to keep up."

"Will you _stop_ with the 'perfect' thing already?" Tadashi groans.

"I thought that's what you were going for," Hiro answers with a bit a challenge in his voice.

"Look, I never claimed I was perfect!" Tadashi cries, feeling himself starting to snap a little bit.

"Perfect grades, perfect attendance record, perfect room, perfect looks, and the way you were always flaunting it all in my face? Close enough!" Hiro replies with a glint in his eye.

"The only ones 'flaunting' it were mom and dad! I never asked for all that pressure!" Tadashi cries. "I didn't ask to be treated like a prize show dog while you were off doing whatever the hell you pleased!" Usually he never cursed in front of his younger sibling, but he was pushing him to his limits.

"Yeah, right! Perfect Tadashi, the golden child-you were lapping it all up while I was shoved into the shadows!" Hiro taunts him.

"Call me perfect one. More. Time," Tadashi growls.

"Fine." Hiro crosses his arms over his chest. " _Perfect._ "

Tadashi didn't even remember cognitively choosing to do it-one moment he was just standing there with fists balled, the next he was wrestling his younger sibling to the ground. Hiro more than eagerly fought back, getting in a few good punches and kicks as they fought for dominance. The younger boy was surprisingly strong for his size, but Tadashi was stronger and eventually he found himself on top with Hiro pinned to the ground beneath him. For a moment he was horrified as his anger abates and he realizes what he'd just done, afraid that he might have actually hurt his _otouto_ and knowing that he'd never be able to forgive himself if he had. But then he suddenly realizes that the younger boy had started laughing- _laughing,_ of all things.

"What is wrong with you?" Tadashi cries, even though he was suddenly finding himself wanting to laugh too although he had no idea as to why.

"I knew it!" Hiro chuckles, managing to free his one arm from his brother's grip so that he could wipe some of the dirt off of his own face. "I knew that you could snap if I pushed you enough!"

"Y-You wanted me to beat you up?" Tadashi asks in disbelief.

"Beat me up nothing-you fight like a wimp!" Hiro answers with a grin. "But yeah. I needed some proof that you were actually human and not some android that my parents had been telling me was actually my older brother all these years."

"I… You have a very sick, twisted little mind, you know that?" Tadashi says, fighting a grin of his own.

"Maybe." Hiro shrugs nonchalantly. "But it serves my purposes."

"So," Tadashi asks as he finally rolls off of him and onto the grass, "are we cool now?"

"Yeah," Hiro agrees with a nod. "We're cool."

"Good." Tadashi grins over at him in relief, realizing that he'd never felt closer to his little brother than he did now. "So… Where do we go from here?" he finally asks.

"Dunno," Hiro answers with another shrug. "What do you think we should do?"

"I… I know that I want to get to know you," Tadashi says after thinking it over for a minute. "Really get to know you. I'm your nii-chan-maybe I haven't been acting like it, but I am and I want to start showing it."

"I think I'd like that, actually," Hiro admits before adding, "But don't expect me to get all mushy-gushy and spilling all my secrets to you while you braid my hair or whatever weirdness you might have in your head 'cause that's totally not me!"

"No hair braiding," Tadashi reassures him with a laugh.

"Good." Hiro nods, seeming satisfied by his promise.

"Maybe you could introduce me to Ezra, though?" Tadashi suggests gently. "I mean, we don't have to do it right away! But if he's someone who's really important to you, I'd like to get a chance to at least meet him."

"I think we could maybe arrange that," Hiro says slowly. "If you'd be willing to introduce me to your boyfriend. Turnabout fair play, right?"

"I think Fred would really like that," Tadashi answers with a warm smile.

"All right then." Hiro stands up and starts brushing the grass off his shorts. "We have a deal."

"Where are you going now?" Tadashi asks curiously, doing likewise.

"Well, your boyfriend lives here, doesn't he? Why don't we go say 'hello' now? No time like the present!" Hiro answers with a crooked grin.

"I would say 'yes', but he's going to pick his parents up from the airport and they don't exactly know about me yet," Tadashi admits. "He said he might try to tell them about us tonight, but he's going to have to wait and see how things are going."

"Gotcha." Hiro gives him a lopsided smile. "Gotta love all the homophobes in our parents' generation."

"Amen," Tadashi sighs, shaking his head slightly.

"Holy shit, did you just agree with me?!" Hiro cries, looking up at him in shock.

"Yes, and stop cursing!" Tadashi answers, whacking him on the head.

"Bro, what the hell? I've been cursing for years-OW!" Hiro ducks out of the way as his brother whacks him again. "Fine, fine, I'll stop cursing! Sheesh! I didn't think I'd brought out your violent side, but apparently I have and I'm now regretting it!"

"You wanted me to start acting like your nii-chan-that's exactly what you're getting!" Tadashi answers with a grin.

"I have created a monster!" Hiro declares.

"Damn right!" Tadashi replies.

"Hey, why can you curse and I can't?!"

"I'm older than you!"

"That's not fair!"

"All's fair in love and war!"

"This is neither, that doesn't even make sense!"

"Fine, we'll discuss this later!"

"Later? What are we doing now?"

"If we can't meet my boyfriend, we can go meet yours!"

"You serious?"

"Dead serious!"

Hiro glances up at him as if weighing his options and then finally smiles. "All right." He nods his head and waves for his brother to follow him. "Let's go!"


	3. Chapter 3

Hiro easily navigated the streets of downtown San Fransokyo at a speed that almost left Tadashi dizzy. He'd honestly barely explored the city, just focusing on those parts that were relevant to his life. He could only guess that Hiro must have learned the streets while visiting various bot fights-he still didn't approve of his younger sibling participating in something so dangerous and illegal, but he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't impressed by his navigational skills.

After a good half an hour of walking, the scenery fades from urban to more residential-the houses in this neighborhood seemed to be slightly run down but didn't seem to indicate any level of poverty, more a feeling of a neighborhood that one might have expected to have seen in the 1950's or 60's.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Tadashi asks when they're a little ways in.

"Ez's family lives down this way," Hiro answers.

"So he still lives at home?" Tadashi asks casually, trying not to let on to the fact that he was slightly worried about how much older than Hiro this guy might be (he couldn't imagine there were too many teens around Hiro's age in the bot fighting circuit, or at least he hoped not.)

"Still?" Hiro flashes him a mildly derisive look. "He just got a home. He was homeless for a good five years-he was still living in an old abandoned building when I met him, but eventually he got picked up by the police because they thought he was a runaway. The one officer ended up letting Ezra stay with his family while they were trying to find any remaining relatives or a family that would take him in, and they ended up getting along so well that Officer Jarrus and his wife ended up deciding to adopt him."

"Wow…" Tadashi lets out a tiny gasp. "I had no idea… That's horrible that he was living on the streets all that time, but I'm glad that he's in a good place now."

"Same," Hiro agrees, giving his brother one of his very rare genuine smiles.

There were a lot of more unanswered questions that Tadashi wanted to ask, but he didn't want to pry and get the younger boy mad at him so instead he focuses on the passing scenery. Eventually Hiro comes to a stop in front of an old two story structure that looked like it might have been white once but had now faded to a pale grey.

"This is it!" he declares, gesturing to the house. "You ready to go meet Ezra?"

"Of course!" Tadashi answers with a grin. "As ready as I'll ever be!"

Hiro rings the doorbell, and instantly there's the sound of a large dog barking.

"Chopper," Hiro tells Tadashi by way of explanation. "Retired bomb sniffing dog. Very easily excitable."

"Cool," Tadashi says with a slight grin-this family seemed to keep getting more and more interesting.

A few moments later, there's the sound of shouting, followed by the dog barking stopping (or at least greatly lessening.) Then someone turning the door handle and Tadashi finds himself stiffening in anticipation-

Oh no. Oh no no no no. As soon as he sees the guy standing in the doorway, he knew that he was going to have some major issues with this. The other man was a good 6 feet or taller. His general appearance was slightly scruffy-he had extensive facial hair and was sporting a few stripe-like tattoos on his arms as well as wearing worn out workout clothes-and he looked like someone who had been in more than his share of fights in his lifetime. But Tadashi's main problem with him was that he looked like he was a good twenty years older than Hiro-there was no way he could be alright with his otouto dating someone who was, to his mind, probably just trying to take advantage of him!

Moments later, though, the reasons for his panic disappear as Hiro cries happily, "Zeb!"

Wait, Zeb? Tadashi instantly feels himself relaxing. So this wasn't Ezra! He wasn't sure who exactly he was, but as long as he wasn't dating his younger brother he couldn't care less.

"Hey squirt!" Zeb grins and playfully ruffles Hiro's hair, making the younger boy laugh. "What brings you here? I thought you an' Ezra didn't have your date until tomorrow night."

"We don't," Hiro answers before gesturing to Tadashi. "But my older brother wanted to finally meet my boyfriend. Is Ez home?"

"I think he's up in his room," Zeb answers, flashing a slightly wary but mostly curious look at the elder Hamada sibling. "Give me a sec' and I'll go see if I can get him for you."

"Thanks Zeb!" Hiro grins up at him. "You're the best!"

"And don't you forget it!" Zeb tosses back playfully.

"Sir, yes sir!" Hiro answers, giving him a mock salute before pulling Tadashi into the cosily cluttered living room while the other man heads up the stairs.

"He seems… Nice," Tadashi says to prevent any awkward pauses in the conversation while he take in the slightly shabby but still warm and homey decor.

"Yeah, he is!" Hiro agrees, seeming happier and more at home here than Tadashi had ever seen him in their own house. "He's Ezra's adopted uncle-he's not actually related to either of Ez's adopted parents, but I think I heard he might have been an old war buddy of Hera's who came to live with them...? Honestly, it's kind of confusing trying to figure this family out, but they're all super cool and nice."

"Yeah, I kind of picked up on that," Tadashi agrees with a slight smile of his own while silently thinking what he'd give for his own family to be as close as Ezra's seemed to be.

About a minute later, there's the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and moments after that a blur of orange and blue comes bursting into the living room, shouting, "Hiro!"

"Ezra!" Hiro cries, and Tadashi barely has time to see the teen grinning before almost being tackled to the floor as the newcomer pulls him into a tight hug. The elder Hamada wasn't sure if he should look away to give the two some privacy, but he couldn't help but take this opportunity to actually take stock of his younger sibling's boyfriend. Ezra was right about Hiro's height, maybe a few inches taller. His slightly shaggy hair was dark blue, matching his luminous blue eyes, and he was dressed in an orange t-shirt that fell over slightly worn but still neatly kept jeans. Overall, as far as first impressions went, he was making a much better one than Zeb. And if his appearance wasn't enough, the way that he was holding Hiro so tenderly and the way Hiro was grinning up at him like he had found the love of his life was enough to make Tadashi's heart melt. How adorable were these two together? It almost physically hurt knowing that he hadn't been around enough for his brother to confide in him and that he'd missed out on everything that had happened leading up to this point. Internally he makes a vow to not miss even one more second of this.

"Hey, Ez," Hiro says softly when he finally starts to pull away from his boyfriend, "there's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Oh, sure!" Ezra turns his curious gaze on Tadashi as Hiro introduces them.

"Ezra, this is Tadashi, my older brother. Tadashi, this is Ezra, my boyfriend!"

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Ezra says politely, holding his hand out to the older man.

"It's really nice to meet you too," Tadashi answers, shaking his hand and wondering how this extremely well-mannered teen could actually be one of Hiro's bot fighting friends. For that matter, how was he making his younger brother act so differently than he did at home-was this some sort of magic?

"I've heard a lot about you," Ezra continues with an adorably crooked smile.

"Really?" Tadashi flashes a disbelieving look over at his younger who was currently doing his best to avoid his gaze-Hiro actually talked about him?

"Sure! He's always telling me about your latest projects for school and stuff-sometimes it's hard to get him to shut up about you!" Ezra laughs, playfully nudging his boyfriend.

"I wish I could say that I'd heard as much about you," Tadashi admits, feeling awkward that this stranger apparently knew so much about him when the teen was a total blank page to him.

"I'm not fully surprised," Ezra answers, his tone conveying something that Tadashi wasn't sure he quite liked the implications of.

"He's cool!" Hiro puts in quickly. "Turns out that he's gay too!"

"Wait, seriously?" Ezra looks at Tadashi with renewed interest.

"Yep, caught him sneaking out of his boyfriend's house this afternoon!" Hiro declares smugly

"Nice!" Ezra laughs.

"It was totally epic!" Hiro chuckles.

"It's still kind of hard to believe that both of you-"

"Would end up liking guys? Yeah, go figure! Guess we both just managed to hit the genetic jackpot."

"Guess so!" Ezra chuckles before smiling over at the older man. "I'm glad to know that you're at least supportive of Hiro-he needs that."

"I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to be there for him sooner, but trust me, I'm doing my best to make up for lost time," Tadashi answers firmly, making his younger brother duck his head in embarrassment.

"So, um, did you want to meet the rest of the family…?" Hiro awkwardly asks, obviously trying to change the subject.

"If it's alright with you guys, I'd love to," Tadashi answers with a warm smile.

"Awesome!" Ezra grins and waves for them to follow him. "This way-I think most of them are in the kitchen!"

As it turned out, he was right. Tadashi was slightly surprised by how many people were crowded into the small space, and even more so by how happy they all seemed in what seemed to be a huge amount of organized chaos.

"Hey guys!" Ezra calls over the hum of chatter and the sounds of all those who were at work. At the sound of his voice, everyone turned in their direction, and Tadashi couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed to be at the center of so much attention.

"Everyone, this is Tadashi, Hiro's older brother!" Ezra continues, not seeming to notice his discomfort. "Tadashi, this is my mom, Hera, my dad, Kanan, my sister, Sabine, you've already met my Uncle Zeb, and that guy over at the stove is some random hobo who must have snuck in and started cooking for us!"

"That was as amusing as the first time fifteen times you said it," the alleged hobo says dryly as the others, particularly Sabine and Hiro, start cracking up.

"Seriously, though," Ezra says, grinning up at Tadashi, "that's my Uncle Kallus-he's Zeb's boyfriend."

"It's very nice to meet all of you," Tadashi says, waving a bit shyly to the others.

"A pleasure to meet you as well," the man Ezra had identified as Kanan answers, coming over to shake the elder Hamada's hand.

"It's so nice to finally get to meet you," Hera adds as she also joins them.

"Thank you for having us on such short notice," Tadashi tells her, knowing that his parents would never have allowed him or Hiro to bring someone home without at least a week's advance notice.

"Trust me, we have people in an out of the house all the time," Hera reassures him warmly. "And any family of Hiro's is always welcome here."

"Does he come over here a lot?" Tadashi asks, trying to see if his suspicions were correct.

"Most days," Kanan agrees with a slight smile. "He helps Ezra with his homework and then they spend the rest of the afternoon just hanging out and being normal, semi-delinquent teens. I know to begin with they'd sneak out to bot fights, but I'm really glad that they seemed to have curbed that for the most part."

"Me too," Tadashi answers, gratified to find out that apparently Hiro was starting to turn things around.

"He always told us that you knew he was here," Hera says, frowning in slight concern. "I'm guessing from your expression that he wasn't being completely honest about that?"

"It's okay!" Tadashi hurries to reassure her. "I'm mainly just glad to know that he's been hanging out somewhere safe."

"We enjoy having him-he's like one of our own children," Hera tells him warmly. "And of course we're always more than happy to have you too, whenever you want to come over."

"T-Thank you!" Tadashi flashes her a grateful smile.

"Alright everyone, lunch is on!" Kallus announces from where he was working by the stove.

"Awesome!" Hiro grins, heading over to the table, and Tadashi couldn't help but notice that his hand was still firmly wrapped around his boyfriend's.

"Come join us," Hera says when she sees that the elder Hamada was standing awkwardly off to the side, unsure of what to do.

"A-Are you sure it's okay?" Tadashi asks, hating to think that he was taking their food.

"Trust me, Kallus always makes way too much," Kanan tells him, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"And he's always looking for new guinea pigs to try his recipes out on!" Sabine adds with a playful grin.

"I'd like to see you try to make your own food, young lady," Kallus answers dryly as he brings a pot of soup over to the table.

"Touche!" Sabine laughs, reaching for the loaf of freshly baked pumpkin bread but instantly having her hand swatted away.

"Guests first!" he tells her firmly.

"But Kal-lus…" she whines.

"I really don't mind!" Tadashi hurries to put in.

"She needs to learn manners," Kallus answers firmly.

"Yeah, manners!" Hiro agrees, playfully sticking his tongue out at her before eagerly helping himself to the bread. Tadashi felt just a tiny bit horrified by his behavior, but the rest of the family just laughed and so he decides to let it go.

The rest of the afternoon passed pretty much in the same fashion. It took Tadashi a while to get used to all the joking and roughhousing that went on and how everyone was free to openly speak their mind about anything and everything, but by the time the sun was going down and he told Hiro that it was probably time to get heading home, he was absolutely in love with it. He couldn't help but feel grateful that this family was taking such good care of his younger brother, and he was slightly shocked but pleased when Hera hugged him goodbye and told him to come back any time that he wanted.

"So, what did you think?" Hiro asks once they're out on the sidewalk heading for home.

"Honestly? They were amazing," Tadashi admits.

"I'm glad you think so!" Hiro beams over at him before adding quietly, "Makes me wish that we had a family like that… I mean, they're not even related, and they all still care about each other so much."

"I agree," Tadashi admits with a sigh. "And I'm sorry that I was part of the problem in the past. I should have made more of an effort to get to know you and spend time with you instead of having my head up my… Well, you know."

Hiro starts laughing at that. "Not gonna lie, watching you trying to curse and be all 'adult' is pretty hilarious to watch," he chuckles. "Back to what you were saying, though-I'm not denying that we should be closer than we are, but I was kind of responsible for not responding when you did try to reach out to me."

"True…" Tadashi agrees with a slight smile.

"And the important thing is that we're working on it now, right?"  
"Right!" Tadashi smiles and reaches down to gently squeeze his brother's hand.

"And I guess we can also help each other keep our parents off of our backs since we're kind of on the same team now?" Hiro adds, smiling as he squeezes back.

"Yeah, definitely," Tadashi agrees with a firm nod.

"After all, we don't want to end up like Aunt Cass-completely cut off just 'cause her parents didn't approve of her boyfriend," Hiro sighs.

"True-when's the last time we even heard from her?" Tadashi asks, frowning when at the mention of the relative his parents hardly ever even bothered to mention.

"I think she actually sends us birthday cards every year," Hiro answers. "I found one addressed to me in the mail right before my last birthday-I'm pretty sure mom and dad just throw the cards away if they find them first."

"Wait, seriously?" Tadashi cries in disbelief.

"Totally." Hiro nods.

"I-That… That is so messed up!"

"No one ever said they were getting the parent of the year awards," Hiro quietly snarks before adding, "I guess they're afraid that if we actually get talking to her or go for a visit she'll be a bad influence, encouraging us to rebel or something. Little do they know that by putting all their ridiculous restrictions on us that they're doing that more than she ever could!"

"Yeah…" Tadashi agrees slowly, thinking of his aunt-she'd been willing to sacrifice everything in order to live her life with freedom. Would he ever be brave enough to do the same thing?

"Bro, you're getting all broody on me again," Hiro says, waving a hand in front of his face to try to snap him out of it. "Earth to Tadashi!"

"What? Oh, sorry," Tadashi apologizes with an embarrassed smile. "Just thinking."

"Well, that's dangerous!" Hiro lightly teases him.

"Ha ha, hilarious." Tadashi playfully rolls his eyes before saying, "So… You and Ezra. You seem to get along really well."

"Yeah." Hiro's expression turns slightly shy at that. "He's my boyfriend, but he's also my best friend. It's pretty special, y'know?"

"Yeah, I do know," Tadashi agrees, knowing that he felt the same way about Fred. "So, you apparently spend a lot of time at his house," he continues a bit awkwardly.

"Yeah, I do," Hiro agrees, looking like he was trying to figure out where this was going.

"And you seem like you're really close… Like, even physically with all the hugging and kissing and hands under the table and stuff…"

"Oh my gosh, is this what I think it is?"

"Maybe…"

"Just tell it to me straight: Are you asking if Ezra and I have sex?"

"I don't know! Possibly? I mean, you did say that you'd been doing it…" Tadashi mumbles, blushing in embarrassment. "Then you said you were kidding, but for my own peace of mind I just need to know if you're… Y'know, being safe and smart about this if you are."

Hiro seems to be wrestling with his answer before sighing and saying, "All right. If I answer you now will you promise not to bring up this subject ever again?"

"I promise!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him.

"All right then." Hiro lets out a tiny sigh. "Yes, we've had sex once. It was a few months back, right before Ezra ended up going to live with the Jarrusses. We'd had a pretty nasty fight in the ring that night, and a few sore losers decided to rough him up a bit. I managed to get him out of there, but by the time I got him back to his home he was crying, and that really freaked me out 'cause I'd never seen him cry before no matter how bad things got. He was just so lonely and scared… I just wanted to do whatever I could to make him smile again. So I climbed into the bed and started snuggling with him. Then I kissed him because the cuddling seemed to be helping, and he started kissing me back, and before we knew it… We were waking up the next morning after having one of the most amazing nights of our lives." Hiro lets out an embarrassed laugh. "Honestly, we had no idea what we were doing-I'm not even sure if what we did counts as sex. But all the same… It was good. Really good. And that night… It was the first time Ezra… Well, he told me that he loved me."

"Oh, Hiro…" Tadashi quietly breathes, stopping to wrap his arms around his younger brother. "I'll be honest, I never thought I'd be saying this, and I'm not sure how I feel about the whole sex thing, but... I'm really happy you found someone who loves you like that."

"Me too," Hiro admits, cheeks slightly pink, although whether from his admission or the hug the elder Hamada couldn't tell.

"So, do you love him back?" Tadashi asks as a new thought comes into his mind-he knew that his brother seemed okay with all of this, but was he really?

"I do," Hiro answers, nothing but complete sincerity showing in his tone and expression. "I know that we're kind of young to have any idea what love even is, but… I just do."

"As long as you're happy and not getting yourself hurt, that's what matters to me," Tadashi says firmly, hugging him a little tighter.

"Really?" Hiro looks up at him, gratitude shining in his chocolate brown orbs.

"Really," Tadashi answers, gently pecking the top of his head. "That's all I ever want for my otouto."

"Thank you… nii-chan," Hiro says softly, giving him a shy, gap-toothed smile.

Tadashi lets out a tiny gasp. "D-Did you just call me…?" he asks, certain that he'd misheard him.

Hiro shrugs slightly, seeming a tiny bit embarrassed by his reaction. "I mean, you've been calling me 'otouto' for years and asking me to call you 'nii-chan' for about as long," he mumbles. "I know we used to do it when we were kids and it always made you happy… You've been pretty awesome about everything today, I thought it might be nice to do something to make you happy."

"I… Thank you, Hiro," Tadashi whispers, his grip on him tightening slightly as he tries to keep a surge of emotions that were threatening to spill over at bay. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You're welcome," Hiro answers with another smile, lightly nuzzling into him. "Nii-chan."


	4. Chapter 4

**((Trigger warning: Extremely homophobic parents))**

A few days after Tadashi had met Ezra with Hiro, he was still waiting for a call from Fred. He knew that his boyfriend's family was still in town and so it was hard for him to keep in contact without raising any unwanted questions, but still! By day three, he was starting to get seriously worried. Probably the only reason he hadn't gone to storm the house yet was because his boyfriend did keep sending him intermittent texts to tell him not to worry, that he was working things out. Tadashi had no idea what that meant, but he could only pray that it meant he was alright.

Then, finally, on the fourth day of their separation, just when Tadashi was starting to think that he was going to go crazy, he received a text from Fred asking him to come over to the mansion at seven pm along with instructions to dress in formal wear. The elder Hamada sibling had no idea what that meant or why he was sending these somewhat odd instructions, but he could only trust that his boyfriend knew what he was doing.

Although he was disappointed at not having been invited too, Hiro was more than happy to help his brother get ready-including giving him some rather questionable fashion advice.

"Hiro, I love you, but I just don't think Fred's parents are the type of people who would be a big fan of earrings on a guy," Tadashi tells his little brother as he struggles with his tie.

"It's not an earing!" Hiro argues. "It's called a cuff-it's a totally different thing! And, for the record, it looks sick on just about anyone-even nerds like you!" He playfully nudges his elder sibling who lightly rolls his eyes and ruffles his hair.

"Whatever it's called, I appreciate the offer but I'm still going to have to turn you down," Tadashi answers, finally deciding that his tie was about as straight as it was ever going to be and turning away from the mirror. "Alright, what do you think? Is the suit too much?"

"I think a suit is _always_ too much!" Hiro drawls.

"In other words it's perfect for whatever super fancy situation Fred's having me walk into?" Tadashi says with a tiny smirk.

"Bingo!" Hiro laughs, lightly punching him on the arm. "Go get 'em, nii-chan!"

"Thanks, otouto." Tadashi smiles and starts to head for the door before suddenly turning around and wrapping him into a tight hug.

"Whoa, don't tell me you're getting nervous!" Hiro cries, doing his best not to try to squirm out of the embrace.

"Maybe just a little bit," Tadashi mumbles.

"Don't be!" Hiro tells him firmly. "We are Hamadas! And, our parents aside, Hamadas totally rock at everything they do! You can do this, bro! Get over there and show Fred's parents exactly what we're made of!"

"Yeah!" Despite how cheesy it was, Tadashi couldn't help but feel slightly empowered by his little brother's speech.

"You've got this, bro!" Hiro declares as he starts pushing him towards the door.

"You're right, I do!" Tadashi chuckles as he starts down the steps. "Wish me luck!"

"Not that you're going to need it, but good luck!" Hiro calls after him, waving.

It was odd how his little brother's words could make such a difference, but somehow Tadashi felt a lot better about things after Hiro's send off and he was able to make his way to Fred's mansion with a decent degree of confidence. Still, as he approaches the door, he can't help but feel just a tiny bit nervous-he really didn't know what he was getting into here, so he could only hope for the best.

Heathcliff opens the door for him, announcing his name to the foyer full of guests all dressed in eveningwear (Tadashi was definitely glad now that he'd worn a full suit.) Still, hardly anyone even glanced up to look at him as he walks inside, and he can't help but feel completely lost-where was he supposed to go and what was he supposed to be doing? Fortunately, less than a minute later, his boyfriend comes to the rescue.

"Dashi!" He could hear the fanboy calling out his name even before he could see him.

"Fred!" Tadashi grins in relief when he catches sight of the other man making his way through the crowds towards him.

"Hey!" Fred wraps his arms around his waist, pulling him close the moment he's within reaching distance. "I was afraid you wouldn't come!"

"You asked me to be here, of course I came!" Tadashi answers, not sure how much PDA was allowed right now and so deciding to just let his boyfriend set the pace.

"You look great!" Fred breathes, appreciatively taking in the sight of the other man in a suit and tie.

"You do too," Tadashi answers, blushing and ducking his head slightly.

"Thank you!" Fred beams and pecks him on the cheek before starting to lightly tug on his hand. "C'mon, follow me!"

"Where are we going?" Tadashi asks, keeping a tight hold on him so that he didn't accidentally lose his grip and get lost in the crowd.

"We're going to go see my parents!"

"Y-Your parents?" Tadashi gulps convulsively-things had just escalated very, very quickly.

"It's all right," Fred says soothingly, turning back to him and gently squeezes his hands. "I've already talked to them. It took them a little while to get used to the idea, but they're cool with it now! They asked me to invite you here so that they could meet you!"

"O-Okay…" Tadashi still didn't feel fully sure about this, but if it made his boyfriend happy…

"Trust me, they're going to love you!" Fred tells him firmly.

"I'll hold you to that," Tadashi says with a nervous smile.

"When have I ever broken a promise to you?"

"...Never?"

"Then I'm not about to start doing it now!"

Oddly enough that was somewhat comforting for Tadashi and he finds himself feeling slightly more at ease as he follows his boyfriend through the mass of people crowded into the entryway and the hallways that they traveled down. Eventually they reach a set of massive oak doors which lead into an even more impressive ballroom.

"Wow…" Tadashi quietly gasps. "This… This is amazing! I feel like we just walked into a Disney movie or something!"

"My mom did have this place modeled after the ballroom in Beauty and the Beast!" Fred chuckles before leading him further into the room. "C'mon, they should be this way!"

A few minutes later, Tadashi spots the two people who were undeniably the hosts of the party just based on the way they were so effortlessly interacting with all their guests. Beyond that, he thought that he recognized them from the portraits hanging in the hallway outside Fred's room and so he was pretty sure that he was looking at his boyfriend's parents. His suspicions are confirmed only seconds later when the fanboy calls out, "Mom! Dad!" while waving to get their attention.

"Frederick!" The older man with neatly styled grey hair smiles and waves back as they make their way over to him.

"Guys, this is my boyfriend, Tadashi!" Fred says once he reaches them, beaming proudly over at his partner.

"Um, hi," Tadashi greets them, feeling a bit nervous but bowing politely all the same. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. Thank you for inviting me to your home."

"What wonderful manners!" The woman Tadashi could only assume was Fred's mom says with a warm smile, obviously charmed by him already. "It's very nice to meet you too, Tadashi."

"So, my son tells me that you've been dating for a few months now," Fred's dad says, also seeming like he was starting to take a liking to him.

" _Hai_ -I mean, yes sir," Tadashi answers, blushing when his nervous habit of slipping into his home language when he was under pressure comes out.

"You speak Japanese!" Mr. Lee seems slightly impressed by this.

"My father taught me," Tadashi explains. "It's where my family is originally from. I can't speak it perfectly, but I'm fairly fluent."

"Knowing more than one language is a very useful skill," Mr. Lee tells him with an approving smile before asking, "What do your parents do for a living?"

For the next half an hour, Tadashi felt like he was being put through the most intensive interview of his life, with Fred's parents asking him everything from how long he'd lived in the city to favorite hobbies to where he was going to school. Fred's dad seeming extremely interested in his work with robotics, particularly the nursebot he was designing which had been tentatively named Baymax. By the end of it, the elder Hamada was slightly worn out but he could tell from the looks on his boyfriend's parents' faces that he had passed whatever sort of test this had been with flying colors. The two older adults finally break away, telling them that they had to see to their other guests, but promising to come back to check on them later and inviting them to enjoy the buffet and the rest of the festivities until then.

"Wow…" Tadashi breathes when they were finally out of hearing distance.

"No kidding!" Fred agrees before asking, "You holding up okay?"

"Surprisingly, yeah!" Tadashi answers with a grin. "How'd I do?"

"Absolutely awesome!" Fred answers firmly. "Trust me, I think they're actually considering adopting you!"

"Really?" Tadashi chuckles, both embarrassed and relieved.

"Definitely!" Fred laughs before taking him by the hand and leading him out into the middle of the floor where many couples were dancing. "C'mon, let's celebrate!"

"Okay," Tadashi agrees with a grin, more than willingly letting his boyfriend take the lead.

It turned out that Fred was an extremely good dancer-apparently his parents had put him through ballroom dancing lessons when he was younger and it definitely showed. The elder Hamada almost felt like he was in a fairytale as he and his boyfriend laughed and talked and danced the night away. And, in that moment, everything was perfect. Little did he know that his perfect world was about to be shattered.

It started out as a good night-an awesome night, actually, considering it was Tadashi's birthday and his parents had actually taken the evening off so they could all have dinner as a family for once. As much as he was really starting to resent a lot of the things that they had done and were still doing to him and Hiro, he couldn't help but look forward to an evening where it would at least feel like they were a normal family, if just for a couple hours. They'd made it most of the way through the evening before the storm hit and hit hard. Dinner was over and his parents were in the kitchen putting the leftovers into the fridge and getting the cake they'd bought from a local bakery ready when Hiro pulled Tadashi off into the living room.

"I know usually we don't open presents until after dinner, but I thought I should probably give you this one now, while mom and dad aren't here," the younger boy says in a quiet whisper.

"Oh my gosh, Hiro!" Tadashi cries before realizing that he needed to probably also keep his voice down. "You didn't have to-"

"I didn't have to, but I wanted to," Hiro answers, playfully rolling his eyes. "Besides, it's not even from me!" He pulls a blue envelope out of his pocket and presses it into his brother's hands. "I managed to grab it from the mail and smuggle it up to our room before our parents could see it. People probably thought I was crazy, stalking the mailbox for the past few weeks, but it totally paid off!"

Tadashi eyes scan over the return address to see who had sent it, and he instantly feels something in his chest tighten just a little bit. "I-It's from Aunt Cass," he says softly, reading the name "Cassidy Hamada" on the pawprint covered address label, followed by what he could only assume was her street address.

"Yeah," Hiro agrees with a grin. "Pretty cool, right? I told you she actually sent us cards!"

"You were right," Tadashi answers with a tiny grin, pressing it to his chest. "Thank you, Hiro. You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"Go on and open it!" Hiro urges. "What's inside has gotta be more interesting than the envelope!"

"I'm almost scared to open it," Tadashi admits.

"Open it, or I'll do it for you," Hiro deadpans.

That was enough to motivate Tadashi-he knew that his little brother would probably just tear the envelope open, but this was something he wanted to be able to cherish for as long as he could. Carefully he undoes the seal holding the flap of the envelope down, doing his best to not tear it more than was necessary, before pulling the card out from inside.

"Oh my gosh, that's adorable!" Tadashi laughs when he sees the picture of a cat in a party hat sitting next to a cake on the cover.

"She seems to have a thing for cats," Hiro notes with a chuckle. "There was one on the front of the card she sent me too! Now c'mon, read what's inside!"

With slightly trembling hands, Tadashi flips the card open, revealing a message in looping, slightly scrawling script:

 _Dear Tadashi,_

 _Happy birthday, sweetie! I can't believe you're 21 years old! I hope you're not getting too crazy tonight, but if you are, it's your special day, you deserve to have fun! Just make sure you stay safe, okay? Mochi says 'Hi' too! I hope you can come visit me sometime soon!_

 _Love,_

 _Aunt Cass_

"Wow…" Tadashi breathes when he reaches the end of the message. "This… I can't believe that she still cares about us this much, even if she hasn't seen us since… I don't even know how long it's been."

"Yeah," Hiro agrees with a slight smile. "It is pretty cool. We really should consider going to visit her one of these days on the sly-she deserves to see her nephews after all these years, and we could do with a family member who seems to actually like us!"

"I honestly have to agree with you," Tadashi admits with a wry smile, carefully putting the card back into his envelope and slipping it into his pocket. "I'll hold onto this so we have the address."

"Sounds great!" Hiro agrees with a grin before adding, "Now c'mon, let's get heading back into the dining room before our parents get back and start getting suspicious. If they ask, you were being ridiculously sentimental and wanted a birthday hug but I wasn't willing to do it where anyone else could see it, got it?"

"Works for me!" Tadashi chuckles before asking, "So that it's not a total lie, do I get an actual hug?"

"Fine, fine!" Hiro groans, rolling his eyes. Still, the way that he slightly nuzzled into the older boy as he wrapped his arms around him told him that he was actually enjoying it somewhat.

It wasn't until they walked back into the dining room that they realized that things had just taken a major turn for the worse. Instead of being in the kitchen like they should have been, Mr. and Mrs. Hamada were in the dining room, and they were looking through Hiro's phone. Both brothers were so shocked and horrified that at first they just froze. Tadashi had suspected for a while now that their parents sometimes snooped in their things to keep tabs on them and make sure that they weren't doing anything that they didn't approve of. That's why both brothers had taken to keeping their phones and other items that they wanted to keep private on their persons at all time. But to see their parents so blatantly invading their privacy, just because Hiro had made the mistake of leaving his phone at the table? It was so wrong that it seemed almost impossible to describe.

The younger boy is the first to recover, and his whole expression darkens as he hisses, "What. The hell. ARE YOU DOING?!"

Instantly their parents look up, looking slightly guilty at being caught, but then Mr. Hamada surprises them by actually responding by acting furious. "Do not use that type of language in our house!" he growls. "Especially when you have already been defiling it already with your heathen acts!"

"Defil-What the fuck are you talking about?" Hiro cries, the glare on his face deepening.

"These… These messages you have been sending to that other boy… To this 'Ezra'," Mrs. Hamada answers stiffly, looking completely and totally disgusted with him. "How dare you bring shame upon this family by having… Having relations with a member of the same sex? We raised you better than this!"

"Like hell you raised me!" Hiro shouts back, storming across the room and snatching the phone back from them, cradling it to his chest as if it was Ezra and his parents had mortally wounded him. "You haven't been here for me or Dashi at all for SIXTEEN! FREAKING! YEARS! Before you start trying to lay all this blame on me, LOOK IN THE FUCKING MIRROR! And I am NOT ashamed of ANYTHING I have ever done with Ezra! He is the love of my life, and you have NO right to say anything against our being together! I won't stand here and listen to you trash him when you have no right to say anything about any of my life choices!"

There was charged silence for a minute as Tadashi watches on with horror, too frozen with fear to even move to defend his younger sibling. Then finally the stillness was broken by Mr. Hamada hissing, "Get out. Get out of this room. Get out of this house. I NEVER want to see you again after what you have done here today."

"You can't do that!" These condemning words from his father finally managing to break through Tadashi's paralysis and move him to action. "He is your son! You can't just kick him out!" he cries as he crosses the room to them, wrapping a protective arm around his sibling's shoulder.

"He is no longer my son," Mr. Hamada answers coldly.

That was it. After all these years of keeping his emotions pent up inside, never able to express what he was truly feeling, that was the straw that finally broke the camel's back. When it had just been himself who was being hurt, Tadashi could handle it. But his so-called parents viciously attacking his beloved otouto actually opened the floodgates and caused everything he'd been holding in to come roaring out.

"Fine," he spits, seeing red. "You're right-he's not your son. He was never you son, because you never came even close to treating him like one, just like you never treated me like one! You expected us to be these perfect china figures that you could put on display, and if we so much as had one hair out of place or dared to get a tiny bit cracked or chipped, we weren't worthy of your love and affection! Hell, I don't know if you even know what it means to love someone other than yourselves and your stupid ideals of perfection! Well, news flash-I'm not perfect either! And if you're going to throw Hiro out because he's gay, then you're going to have to throw me out too, because so am I! Think about what you've done when you find yourselves all alone years from now, because we're not going to be around to comfort want us gone, then fine-we're leaving, and we're _never_ coming back!"

He doesn't even wait to hear his parents' response. Taking Hiro firmly by the hand, he leads his brother out of the dining room and up the stairs to their bedroom.

"D-Dashi," Hiro whispers, looking for the first time in longer than the older boy could remember slightly afraid. "Y-You didn't have to do that… T-They're going to kick you out too…"

"I don't want to live somewhere where I can't be with my little bro," Tadashi answers, gently pecking him on the forehead before heading over to their closet and pulling out the suitcases they had from the times they'd gone on school trips. The luggage was slightly dusty from disuse, but it would serve their purposes.

"What are you doing with those?" Hiro asks softly.

" _We_ are packing," Tadashi answers, dropping the dark blue one onto his brother's bed. "If they're kicking us out, they can't keep us from taking our most valuable possessions with us."

The two spend the next half an hour in silence, putting everything that they knew was irreplaceable into their bags. There were of course things that had to be left behind-they couldn't pack an entire room in thirty minutes-but nothing that either of them would terribly miss.

"Ready to go?" Tadashi asks once they both have their bags zipped closed and standing by the door.

"As I'll ever be," Hiro answers, his voice shaking a tiny bit-as brave as he tried to act, leaving the only home he'd ever known was a scary thought. Tadashi reaches over and tightly squeezes his hand.

"Hey," he says softly. "It's going to be okay. We'll get through this together."

"Yeah." The younger boy gives him a small smile. "Thank you, nii-chan."

"You're welcome, otouto," Tadashi answers, smiling back before opening the door and leading him down the stairs.

They don't even bother to say goodbye. They walk directly by the dining room, where their parents were still sitting in silence. Neither of the other adults say anything, or even so much as look at them to acknowledge their existence, so Tadashi decides that they're not even worth the breath it would take to try to broker some sort of peace. They had shown their true colors, and Tadashi was honestly glad to finally be getting his younger sibling out of this toxic environment.

It's not even until they're halfway up the street that it occurs to them that they honestly have no idea where they're going.

"Nii-chan, do you know where we're going to spend the night?" Hiro quietly asks.

"I… I'm working on it," Tadashi answers, thinking hard. "I'd say we should head to Fred's-I think is parents would let us stay there-but he's on vacation with them right now and they doesn't get back until next week. They're in an area without any wifi or phone connection so we can't even call them and ask if the servants could let us in..."

"How about Ezra's?" Hiro offers tentatively. "I mean, I think his parents would be cool with us staying for a little bit if we needed to…"

"Maybe," Tadashi says uncertainly, thinking of Hiro's boyfriend's already crowded house. "But I'm not sure if there would be enough room for both of us to stay for the entire week until Fred gets back, and I'd hate to impose…"

"Do we know anyone else who would take us in?" Hiro fires back, the amount of stress he was currently under causing him to snap slightly.

"I don't know, let me think!" Tadashi replies, trying not to let his own fear cloud his judgment-they needed an argument right now like they needed a thorn in their sides…

Wait, a thorn? The elder boy looks down at his pocket where something slightly sharp actually was poking into his side. He reaches into it and pulls out the card his aunt had sent him, his eyes going wide as an idea hits him.

Hiro seems to come to the same conclusion at the same time as he does, his eyes focusing on the address on the envelope before meeting his older brother's gaze.

"Do you think it would work?" he asks softly.

"It's our best chance," Tadashi answers with a slight shrug. "I mean, she is family. The worst thing she can do is say 'no' and we won't be much worse of than we are now, right?"

"That is true!" Hiro agrees with the beginnings of a smile making its way onto his face. "All right-let's go to Aunt Cass'!"

It took them about twenty minutes by streetcar to reach the stop Tadashi's phone identified as the nearest one to their aunt's address and another ten minutes of walking from there to actually reach her house.

"Are we sure this is the right place?" Tadashi asks when they're standing across the street from it, checking the numbers on the envelope to see if there had been some sort of mistake.

"Yep, that's gotta be it!" Hiro answers, peering down at the address. "Maybe she owns this place and she lives somewhere else?"

"That could make sense," Tadashi agrees hesitantly before asking, "Do you think we're crazy? It's been probably over thirteen years since she's last seen us! Is it really okay for us to just suddenly waltz back into her life because we need her now?"

"Bro," Hiro says dryly, "it's this or potentially being homeless for the night. I'm willing to take my chances." Just then the light changes and he marches off across the crosswalk, leaving his elder sibling with no other choice than to hurry after him.

"Let's at least leave our bags by the door so we don't seem too presumptuous," Tadashi whispers to him as they push the door open, causing the little bells on the cat-shaped mobile above it to chime.

"Presumptuous. Seriously, Dashi, do you have word of the day calendar or something?" Hiro drawls, even as he reluctantly leans his suitcase up against the wall next to the door.

"Hush!" Tadashi lightly whacks him on the back of his head before momentarily fussing with his brother's hair and hoodie-just because they were homeless, they didn't have to look like it!

"Get off me!" Hiro bats his hands away before heading up to the counter, yet again forcing his sibling to chase after him.

"Do you think that's her?" Tadashi whispers as he sees the woman wiping down the coffee machines and feeling like he had some vague memories of his aunt looking something like she did, although it had been so long that they were mostly faded and he'd never even been allowed to see pictures of her since she'd been cut off from the family.

"Your guess is as good as mine!" Hiro answers with a shrug. "Let's just ask her!"

"Wait, let me do it!" Tadashi tells him, knowing that this situation needed tact and not trusting his brother to not just blurt everything out at once and overwhelm her.

"Fine, fine, we'll do it your way!" Hiro sighs, rolling his eyes and gesturing in a way that the elder boy could clearly tell meant, "Get on with it!"

"Um, ma'am, by any chance are you Cassidy Hamada?" Tadashi asks tentatively as he moves closer to the counter, raising his voice enough so that she could hear him.

"That's me!" the woman answers, not looking up from her work. "But I'm sorry to tell you that you'll have to come back tomorrow, I just closed up shop for the night."

"O-Oh, um, we're actually not here to order anything," Tadashi tells her nervously, only finding the courage not to walk right back out the door because Hiro was digging his elbow hard into his side to keep him from doing just that. "A-Aunt Cass? We're your nephews, Hiro and Tadashi."

For a moment the older woman freezes, the rag she was holding dropping from her hand and onto the counter. Then she looks up at them with wide, shocked brown eyes that seemed to be sparkling with tears she was just barely managing to hold back. "Oh my goodness…" she breaths as she looks them both over, and for a minute Tadashi couldn't tell if she was happy to see them or not. But then suddenly a smile bursts onto her face and she cries, "Oh my goodness! I can't believe- You're actually here!"

Her work forgotten, she hurries around to the front of the counter and pulls them both into a tight hug that was surprisingly strong given her small stature, almost knocking the wind out of her poor nephews. "Oh my gosh, look at the two of you!" she gasps when she finally loosens her grip on the two of them, stepping back so that she had a better view. "You're both so tall and handsome now! Last time I saw you, Tadashi, you were barely up to my knees, and Hiro wasn't even a year old!" That alone could have turned into an awkward moment, bringing up her forced separation from her nephews, but she quickly barrels on, "I'm so excited that both of you finally came for a visit, though!" Her eyes dart to the door and around the cafe, as if looking for someone else. "A-Are your parents with you?" she asks softly, her expression wavering somewhere between hope and dread.

"Not exactly…" Tadashi says uncertainly, not sure how to broach the touchy subject of the night's events. Hiro had no such qualms.

"They kicked us out," he states flatly.

"Kicked you out?" Aunt Cass gasps, her eyes going wide again. "Why would they-?"

"'Cause they found out we're both hella gay and they'd apparently rather us live on the streets than stay there and disgrace the family name and all that shit," Hiro drawls.

"Hiro!" Tadashi roughly nudges him-was he trying to make the situation worse?

But instead of seeming offended or disgusted, Aunt Cass' expression turns to that of righteous anger. "They WHAT?" she growls. "How could they- Their own CHILDREN! It was bad enough when they cut me off because of a boyfriend I didn't even end up marrying, but this- This is COMPLETELY unforgivable!"

Tadashi didn't expect her to open the pastry case and start viciously attacking a chocolate cruller, but she did, and he decides that it would probably be extremely bad manners to say anything to the woman he was hoping would be willing to give him and his brother at least temporary shelter so he keeps his mouth shut until she's finished. By the time she was done, she seemed to have calmed down slightly, apologizing to them, "Sorry, I tend to eat when I'm stressed."

"I do the same thing with gummy bears!" Hiro tells her brightly, more amused than disgusted.

"It runs in the family," Aunt Cass chuckles, brushing away the remaining crumbs before going serious again. "So, what are you going to do now?" she asks softly.

"We don't really know," Tadashi answers awkwardly. "I mean, Hiro and I both have boyfriends, but mine is unreachable for the next week, and Hiro's already has a pretty full house as it is…"

Instantly a look of determination comes into their aunt's eyes. "If you need a place to stay, then you've come to the right place!" she declares.

"Really?" Hiro flashes her an eager grin.

"Absolutely!" She nods her head emphatically. "My brother and his wife kept me away from my nephews for all these years, I'm not missing out on another second with you two! Consider yourselves home!"

"O-Oh my gosh, thank you," Tadashi breathes, feeling relief flooding his chest. "I-It would only be until I could find a more permanent place for me and Hiro…"

"Don't even think about finding somewhere else to live!" Aunt Cass says fiercely, pulling them both into another tight hug. "I said you're home, and I meant it! You two are coming to live with me, and that's that! It's not anything fancy, and I'm afraid all I have is one spare room, but if you think you can make that work-"

"We're used to sharing a room!" Hiro informs her.

"Perfect!" Aunt Cass grins at them. "Everything's settled, then! I'll look into getting an extra bed tomorrow so you don't have to share long term, as well as anything else you need! Were you able to bring anything with you, or-?"

"We packed our essentials into our suitcases before we left," Tadashi answers, gesturing to their two bags by the door.

"I'm glad that you were able to at least able to do that." Aunt Cass gently squeezes both their hands. "But don't worry, we'll replace anything else that you had to leave behind."

"I don't even know how we can begin to repay you…" Tadashi whispers.

"You don't have to repay me anything!" Aunt Cass tells him sternly. "We're family-this is what families do for each other!"

"Still…" Tadashi says uncertainly, having a hard time accepting her outright generosity to them.

"Maybe we could help you out in your cafe!" Hiro suggests, looking around at their surroundings. "That way we don't have to feel like total freeloaders!"

"That idea does have its possibilities," Aunt Cass says thoughtfully. "I did just have a couple girls quit to go on to full time positions elsewhere and I kept meaning to start looking for replacements…"

"Look no further!" Tadashi tells her with a grin, relieved that there was a way they could be of use to her.

"The only question," Aunt Cass continues, looking them both over, "is if you could pull off the uniform-all the girls wear maid costumes with cat ears and tails."

"Uh…" Tadashi instantly freezes, his brain feeling like it was trying to shift gears without a clutch. Did she actually expect them to-?

"I'm just teasing you!" Aunt Cass burst out laughing, gently patting him on the shoulder. "Don't look so panicked! Goodness, I swear I thought you were about to have a hernia!"

"The expression on your face was priceless!" Hiro cackles, clutching his sides he was laughing so hard, "Oh man, I wish I had a picture of that! I am SO going to love living here!"

"Eh heh…" Tadashi lets out an embarrassed half-chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck and silently thinking to himself that he finally knew who his little brother had inherited his sense of humor from.

"Come on." Aunt Cass smiles and starts heading towards a door at the back of the cafe. "Grab your suitcases and follow me-the house is up this way!"

"Cool!" Hiro grins and hurries to do as instructed. "You live above your cafe?"

"I do indeed!" Aunt Cass lightly chuckles. "Makes it very convenient for getting to work in the morning-no long commute in crazy traffic!"

"That's totally my kind of job!" Hiro declares.

The two boys follow their aunt through the door and up a flight of stairs. Tadashi couldn't help but notice that the walls were lined mostly with pictures of their aunt at various stages of her life, although there were a couple of school pictures of himself and Hiro that his parents must have sent to her when things weren't so rough between them. More recent photos also heavily featured a fat Japanese bobtail, and he was just about to ask about them when suddenly, at the top of the steps, he feels something warm and furry brushing up against his ankles.

"Hey there little guy!" he says, grinning as he looks down and sees a calico colored cat rubbing against his legs. He momentarily lets go of his suitcase so he could stoop down to gently scratch the kitty under its chin, the feline contentedly purring as he does so.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Hiro coos, quickly joining him.

"That's Mochi," Aunt Cass tells them with a warm smile before quickly asking, "Neither of you are allergic, are you?"

"No, no allergies except Hiro having a mild allergy to peanuts," Tadashi hurries to reassure her.

"And it's not even that bad, my mouth just feels kind of funny but I don't need an epipen or anything!" Hiro adds.

"Still, I'll keep that in mind," Aunt Cass tells him, and Tadashi could almost visibly see her making a mental note of it, something he was incredibly grateful for.

"All right, you boys ready to head up and see your room?" she asks once Mochi starts getting tired of the attention and squirms away from them.

"Sure!" Hiro agrees eagerly.  
"It's just up this last flight of steps," she tells them, smiling as she leads the way.

"Whoa!" Hiro gasps once they're inside. "This place is totally sick!"

"It's amazing!" Tadashi agrees-the room was absolutely huge, almost twice as big as their old room, with a connected bathroom and a door that led out onto what looked like a rooftop garden. It was pretty sparse when it came to furnishings, but he could easily see them making a home here.

"Sorry it's a bit dusty," Aunt Cass apologizes, heading over to the full size bed and pulling a plain white sheet off of it. "We can start cleaning it up tomorrow, but hopefully you'll be able to stand it for one night."

"It's perfect!" Tadashi reassures her.

"Great!" Aunt Cass grins in relief. "I'll run downstairs and get you some fresh sheets and towels and things. Oh!" She stops short on her way to the door as a thought strikes her. "Have you two had dinner yet? I'm not letting my two nephews go hungry on their first night living with me!"

"No, it's fine, we had supper!" Tadashi hurries to reassure her.

"Yeah, we got kicked out right after that but before the cake," Hiro adds with a wry smile.

"No cake, and it being Tadashi's birthday? We're going to have to fix this!" Aunt Cass declares. "Thank goodness I always keep a few extra on cales in the cooler in the cafe in case I have a guest come in with a last minute order! We might not have your favorite flavor, dear, but at least it will be something and I can make you a proper cake tomorrow!"

"You don't have to do that-!" Tadashi starts to protest, but she was already heading down the stairs, humming loudly and very obviously ignoring him.

"I think I'm really going to like living here!" Hiro declares with a grin as he watches her go.

"You know what?" Tadashi lightly chuckles as he reaches down to wrap an arm around his younger sibling. "I think I will too."


End file.
